While the Capital is worrying about the upcoming state elections, rains and the endless traffic jams caused by them, we bring you Ganesh, a man in his thirties, who is seen sitting outside the Barakhamba Metro Station solving sudokus and puzzles released in newspapers. A tall think dark man, shabbily dressed, hair all over his face, Ganesh has been in Delhi for the last 10 years now. “I used to work in Punjab and I was travelling from Patna (my home) to Punjab when I stopped in capital and I was robbed of R35,000”, he says.
“He was robbed of huge amount of money and he has stayed in the Capital ever since. He comes here every morning and keeps on solving these puzzles, sudokus and other mathematical puzzles. He is also extremely fluent in English and when you talk to him he always makes sense”, says Rahul, the owner of a cola kiosk, also Ganesh’s good friend. “He eats whatever we give him, never really asks for food. He just sits in a corner and keeps solving these puzzles”, Rahul adds.
On a rather close inspection, it is clear that Ganesh makes mistakes in his puzzles, but at the same time, there is something about the puzzles that makes him solve them every day. And that’s not it — for a different puzzle, there’s always a different pen he uses!

New chip on the Android block

Waseem Gashroo

For the present generation of mobile users, especially the youth, a feature-loaded smartphone has become more of a necessity than a luxury. Gionee’s Dream D1 promises a great user experience to all mobile-freaks. A fast processor Dream D1, the dual sim, dual standby phone, running on

Android 4.1 Jelly bean (similar to Micromax Canvas HD) in a 8.6 mm chassis, happens to be quite stylish. An addition to the league of pocket-friendly quad core phones, this one has fared quite well with a 1.3 GHz quad core CPU based on ARM cortex A7 architecture.

Its 1GB RAM and 4GB internal memory gives the user the freedom to download and use multiple applications at once, with ease. Good camera, great sound, the 8 MP auto focus, auto panorama (99 pictures in one click) rear camera with LED flash delivers well, especially in low light. Dream D1 also offers HD video recording and face detection technology, along with a front-facing 1MP camera.

However, the smartphone could have promised a better camera experience at a price of R17,999. The a2100 MAH battery gives an average backup. However, the in-built Digital Theatre System (DTS) Sound is certainly the saving grace, promising a great multimedia experience. The phone also boasts of coming-of-age OTA (Over the Air) function to allow faster software upgrades.

Available in graphite black colour, the handset comes bundled with a 16GB memory card. Further, the phone gives a run for the money to its peers because of the 4.65 inch Amoled display (similar to Samsung Galaxy SII), that explains its great screen clarity. Gionee, which happens to be a key market player in the Chinese mobile market, has pinned its hopes on the newly launched Dream D1 to establish its foothold in the Indian market.

Click here for the published article on Hindustan times

My name is many a Khan ... and beyond

Waseem Gashroo

A fresh successor to Azad Essa’s first book — Zuma’s Bastards (2010) is The Moslems Are Coming: Encounters with a desktop terrorist. The book is a collection of journalistic pieces by a South African blogger of Indian origin, written during his multinational study programmes in India, South Africa and Germany. The daring title shakes up the reader initially, but as we go inside, Azad makes it comfortable for the reader. This book doesn’t restrict itself to Muslim affairs, but talks about countries where citizens face the issue of identity crisis and discrimination on the basis of colour.These are first-hand experiences of Azad while on his assignments. Also noteworthy is the way this book analyses the Kashmir conflict and its impact on the local residents. The issues of Kashmiri pandits who fled from the valley in the early 90s and the aftermath of their displacements have also been etched out remarkably. Azad talks about the the sense of insecurity among people in Kashmir — how the state’s youth has been made a victim of enforced disappearance. Kashmir is described aptly as a “Blind Spot”. The Moslems... is a strong reflection of global problems and how we can make changes within.

Click here for the published article on Hindustan times

Broken Trust- A short Film

Memoriam In Cricket !!!!

Majid Maqbool

Twice selected to represent J&K in Ranji Trophy, Fayaz was 19 when he disappeared in custody. His family has kept his memory alive through an annual cricket tournament in his name in Baramulla. Majid Maqbool heard the family narrate the story of grief, loss and pride.

As a young boy Fayaz Ahmad Gashoo was passionate about sports, particularly cricket. An all-round cricketer all through his high school and college years, he could bowl as fast as the West Indian fast bowler Malcolm Marshal earning him a nickname “Fayaz Marshal” in Baramulla and “Fayaz Fire” in Srinagar.

Fayaz was selected twice to play in Ranji trophy. On a Saturday afternoon of May 19, 1990 he was waiting near a court complex in Sopore to board a bus to reach his home in Baramulla. A CRPF convoy that was passing by swooped on him and picked him up. Fayaz has never been seen since.

His family is unable to reconcile with the loss. Fayaz has disappeared but his family believes he has been killed.
At their residence in Khawaja Bagh, Baramulla, Fayaz’s elder brother opens a grey briefcase - a briefcase full of memories, containing certificates, photographs and documents related to his disappearance. In one envelope - “yadien” written on its cover – pictures of Fayaz holding trophies he won in different cricket tournaments before he disappeared in CRPF custody in 1990.

In some pictures, he is smiling in the company of his college friends and teammates. Other pictures show Fayaz in a skiing gear on a snowy slope with his friends in Gulmarg. In other pictures he is receiving the man of the match trophy and shaking hands with dignitaries. Surrounded by his teammates, he is seen jubilantly holding up the trophy. One envelope from the briefcase reveals a newspaper cutting of Fayaz, mentioning his achievement in the caption:

“Fayaz Ahmad, B.A part 1 - All round best player of the year, 1987.” Fayaz’s mother has been in a state of shock since the day he disappeared. She cannot stand the sight of cricket matches shown on television. She cannot bring herself to talk about her son, her elder sons say. Fayaz’s elder brothers have to conceal all his photos, clothes and other belongings from her. They can not talk of Fayaz in front of her. She never passes from the college cricket ground where Fayaz used to practice. She avoids places Fayaz would frequent.

On a cold day in December, 1989, Fayaz Ahmad left home. He told his brothers that he was going for skiing in Gulmarg. He was 19 then, a teenager. That year armed rebellion had broken out in Kashmir against Indian rule, and many of Fayaz’s friends had crossed the LoC. Fayaz, too, crossed the border without informing his family. He returned after 3 months. “We didn’t know that he had crossed the border as he never told us,” says his elder brother. “Those who had gone with him sent some of his belongings home and that is how we came to know about it.”

After he returned in March 1990, his brother says, Fayaz came home only three times. “He would stay at home for a brief time and wouldn’t talk about what he did during those three months.”

A second year commerce student in Baramulla Degree College, Fayaz resumed studies in college after his return.

On May 19, 1990, Fayaz was waiting for a vehicle near a college in Sopore. Notebook in hand, he was headed home. Eyewitnesses later told the family that a CRPF convoy that was passing by made a brief halt, some troopers came down, and he was taken away. His notebook dropped on the street.

Fayaz’s family came to know about his arrest four days after his disappearance. Another young man, who was detained along with Fayaz in a CRPF camp, had somehow escaped. He later sent a message to the family that Fayaz was held by the 50 battalion of CRPF in their camp in Sopore.

“The officer in charge of that camp Kripal Singh denied having arrested Fayaz,” says his brother. Months later, another friend of Fayaz, who was also held in the same camp had more bad news for the family. He was later sent to Tihar and after his release from there a few months later, he told the family that Fayaz was tortured inside the CRPF camp in Sopore.

“He had heard cries of Fayaz in the camp,” Fayaz’s brothers recalled. “He told us later that Fayaz was abused by a CRPF officer who was interrogating Fayaz inside the camp.” After an altercation, he heard a few gunshots. And then there was silence, the friend had told Fayaz’s family.
“If they have killed our brother, we don’t know where they kept his dead body,” said his brother, eyes brimming with tears. “If he is dead, they should at least have handed over his dead body to us.”

After the custodial disappearance of Fayaz, his brothers approached CRPF and army camps all across the valley. They searched in every jail in the valley. They also went searching to jails in Rajasthan. But no trace.

“If someone spoke of having seen him in some jail, we would immediately rush there,” says his elder brother. For three months in 1990, the brother hired a taxi and went to every CRPF camp and approached every CRPF officer stationed in the valley.

Fayaz’s family says the CRPF and Army kept harassing the family in the years after his disappearance. They would ask for the gun of Fayaz. Every time the family told them that they don’t know anything about the gun. They had never seen Fayaz carrying any weapon.

One evening in 1994, a group of soldiers raided their house. “They asked all the men to come out. But we told them that the women will also come out and then they can search the house,” says Gul Mohammad, the elder brother of Fayaz. The army men got angry on this. “They beat all of us, including children, old men and women,” the brothers recall.

On the same day one of their younger brother, Bashir Ahmad Gashoo, was taken away by the army. “He was released after 10 days in half-dead condition,” says his elder brother Gul Mohammad Gashoo. “He was severely tortured in the nearby army camp. He could not even stand after his release and he was unable to talk for months.”

Gul Mohammad has kept pictures showing torture marks on his brother’s body. “He had to be hospitalized and was brought home after 3 months of treatment in SKIMS.”

As a teenager Fayaz was fearless. He wouldn’t tolerate any curbs on his freedom. During his high school student days, he was walking on a curfewed road in Baramulla. His brothers say a police officer, who was driving by in a police gypsy, stopped Fayaz in his tracks and rebuked him. He asked Fayaz to get lost and stay at home. “Fayaz got so angry on this that he slapped the police officer,” recalls his elder brother. “He told the police officer that he cannot stop him from walking on the road.” Fayaz had to be kept in hiding for a month to prevent his arrest.

Fayaz’s brothers remember him as a brave young boy who loved playing cricket. Endowed with the physique of an athlete, he was the tallest among all his three brothers. At 17, Fayaz was selected twice to represent J&K state in Ranji trophy in 1987 and 1989.

One day Fayaz had gone to Srinagar to play in a tournament. “He had no money to return home,” recalls his elder brother. “He slept beneath a Chinar tree in the same ground where he played during the day. Next morning, he got up and played in another match in the same ground,” his brother recalls his enthusiasm for cricket with a poignant smile.

Most of the matches he played Fayaz would win the man of the match award. “He is the only player in Baramulla who once hit a ball so hard that it landed on the street outside the Baramulla degree college,” recalls his brother. He says when people would come to know that Fayaz is batting or bowling, they would assemble in huge numbers inside the college ground just to watch him play. “People would even come from far off villages in buses to cheer him on.”

After Fayaz’s custodial disappearance, his brothers kept his memory alive. They started an annual cricket tournament “Fayaz Memorial” cricket cup in 1997. It was a tribute to a promising young cricketer. Every year some of the best cricket teams in Baramula compete in the memorial tournament. Fayaz’s elder brothers give out trophies to the best teams and the most promising players. Had he been allowed to live, his brothers say, he would have brought more laurels and made his homeland proud.

“Whenever I see a dream, I see Fayaz playing cricket in his college ground,” says Gul Muhammad. His room is adorned with all the trophies of Fayaz. He has even preserved one of the worn out cricket balls Fayaz played with.

“Whatever respect we have earned among people here, it is because of Fayaz,” his brothers say in unison. “We’re known more as Fayaz’s brothers.”
“And we will never forget what was done to our brother.

Click here for the published article on Kashmir Life.

THE LOST CRICKETER OF VARMUL

The power to take a person into custody seems an evitable character of the very conception of a state. This tremendous power needs strong checks to ensure that the exercise does not turn tyrannical and despotic. Communication of the reason of arrest, information to relatives and friends as to the place of detention, production before an independent judicial authority, right to adequate legal help, right not to be tortured in custody, presumption of innocence and a fair trail are some of the checks placed on the power to take into custody.
The enforced Disappearances in Kashmir started in 1989, following the outbreak of armed conflict. The heavy deployment of security forces as part of the effort to suppress the movement for independence has contributed fundamentally to this problem.
This is the story of a lost cricketer of varmul town who was arrested by 50 B.N C.R.P.F. and later he was disappeared in custody. Being a writer it was a very tiring job for me to script the story of this cricketer.
FAYAZ Ahmad Gashroo. S/o Ghulam Ahmad Gashroo. R/o Khawaja Bagh Baramulla. Aged: 20. Occupation: Student. Fayaz was a bold person, well built and tall. His brilliant performance in the cricket fields did win him fame but not enough to seduce a writer to write the biography of fayaz. Fayaz was often seen on the front pages of the local dailies before 1990 for his performance in cricket but in 1990 his news rocked the Kashmir dailies, it was not because of cricket, the game that gave him fame and for which he donated his whole life for, but he was in news because of his mysterious disappearance in custody.
Fayaz a B.A. final student and a brilliant cricket player was arrested by CRPF 50th battalion personnel’s headed by commandant kirpal singh took him to some unknown camp. We remained unaware of this unfortunate incident says Fayaz’s elder brother. After about 20 to 30 days some people informed us about the arrest but we were unaware what has done with Fayaz. It was the unfortunate Saturday of our life on 19th may, 1990, when on the day he was arrested near court complex sopore on the way from his relatives to home.
Cricket is called the gentleman’s game and Fayaz proved it. He always respected the game as it was his profession now. He had played various ranji trophies representing Jammu and Kashmir. The trophies and medals that he won for his best performances in cricket lies in his home. One of the friend and his team mate said, He was crazy of cricket, an all rounder. He was named as Fayaz Marshall because of fast bowling style like of West Indian seemer Malcolm Marshall. He was our team captain representing B.C.C blues; He always smashed the ball by his bat on the hill or the national highways which lies in Government boys college baramulla’s ground. He was a great sportsman but this unfortunate event lost our hope on cricket now.
Fayaz’s home people neither filed an F.I.R nor a writ petition because of the force that was made on them by security forces that was made on them by security forces. Instead they approached kirpal singh, the commandant of crpf, who first accepted that he had arrested fayaz, later refused so. He could not satisfy Fayaz’s home people. The home people of fayaz managed to get a letter from higher official of CRPF. This irritated the kirpal singh who later denied the arrest. However scores people witnessed kirpal singh arresting Fayaz on that fateful day but kirpal singh did not accepted their argument. A letter no: SCB/2106, dated 24/9/1990 from special commissioner baramulla directed the then director general of police to provide necessary information to the relatives of the whereabouts of Fayaz. Another letter from district magistrate baramulla no: DPB/242/3rd/90, dated 24/9/90 to the additional chief secretary (home) J&K government to release Fayaz Ahmad Gashroo, but all in vain.
The high-up in the administration were approached but they could not render any help. The search of Fayaz still continued. Fayaz’s home people says, Every jail, interrogation center was searched but fayaz was not found. Fayaz’s Home people met the international Red Cross team during their visit to the valley. They assured Fayaz’s relatives that proper step will be taken but all in vain.
From pillar to post the search of fayaz is still going on, as we have not received his mortal, we cant declare him dead, he is alive in our hearts, it seems that in next minute Fayaz will come home back from the cricket ground as he told his mother that he going to play cricket match in nearby ground, these are the words of his old mother. In an interview to some journalist in mid 90’s, Fayaz’s elder brother said, “if fayaz was a militant, the democratic Indian government should have challaned him and tried him in an open court as required by Indian law itself. They arrest Kashmiri’s for violating laws, aren’t they violating the laws themselves by resorting to such mean practices”.
Two decades has passed but the whereabouts of Fayaz is still missing. The family of fayaz faced hardships during 90’s. Each brother of Fayaz was tortured by security forces, because they were the brothers of Fayaz and they were trying to find their loving and little brother.
A person namely Kaship Shawl (name changed) who was arrested during these days when Fayaz was also arrested, luckily kaship escaped from the prison who informed the family members of Fayaz that he lost his life in the interrogation center while CRPF personnel’s tortured him. Since from that day family member of Fayaz used to 19th may as the black day in their lives, because they don’t know the exact day when he was killed, but they used the day when he was arrested.
Several human rights organization tried to highlight the issue of fayaz but they were handcuffed. In March 2007, India’s most noted journalist and the editor of NDTV, Barkha Dutt came Fayaz home to cover the story of Fayaz, no doubt Fayaz’s issue was telecasted on national channel but the agencies involved in this incident remained dumb as they don’t have the words to explain the issue.
Enscipting these stories of the youths of Kashmir who disappeared wont bring them home back, but we are just trying to sympathize with the families of those people, giving assurance that their loved ones and their issues has not been thrown in dustbin. Elder brother of Fayaz told Barkha Dutt that if Fayaz is alive he will come home some day but if he is dead we will meet him in the next world after death (HEAVEN). After along breath taken by the family members of Fayaz, they said excuse me and thank you and rest leave us on our situation…

From "One lost paradise to The paradise kashmir that was"?

The Paradise Kashmir once was

Kashmir has turned into battlefield; the genuine political struggle for the unification of Kashmir and the demand for right to self determination are long forgotten
Waseem Gashroo
I was born in Kashmir. I belong to a place known for its hospitality, a place that has a history of composite culture and religious tolerance. In fact, Islam did not arrive in Kashmir through the sword. It was introduced by mystics and Sufis who conquered the hearts of the people.
Where a Hindu neighbour greets his Muslim neighbour on Eid and vice versa, where brotherhood survives through centuries and there is no discrimination on name of religion, caste, creed or colour.
However, I was born at a time when militancy broke out in Kashmir; being a kid I witnessed chaos, turmoil and confusion. I grew up in the situation where most of the male family members used to go underground to avoid arrests with or without any reason. The place I belong to is on the banks of river Jhelum. I dreamed a happy and joyful life and even prayed for the return of peace.
The first bomb explosion that rocked Kashmir took place in 1988. People thought it was the outcome of a small political feud, although everybody knew the pot was boiling after years of political discontent. That September a young man, Ajaz Dar, died in an encounter. A group of young Kashmiri rebels decided to take arms and fight out the Indian state. They had dreamt of an independent Kashmir free from India and Pakistan. Although this young man was not the first Kashmiri to die fighting for this cause, his death was the beginning of new era which was tragic in nature. This dream is still alive and after two decades young and old, male and female still demands the independence.
The death of Maqbool Bhat opened the floodgates. People felt the word “LAW” only remains in the books and never implemented in the practical life, even Maqbool Bhat himself said “My death will bring revolution in Kashmir”.
India's most wanted Kashmiri militant and Chief of United Jihad Council, Syed Salahudin, once contested the assembly election from Srinagar, nor that, unofficially, he was winning by a good margin. When the elections were rigged, he lost not only the election but faith in the process. His polling agents and supporters were arrested and tortured; most of them later became militants. Violence was introduced amid growing dissent against India and hundreds of young people joined the armed movement. Kashmir was changing.
I had just started schooling; the surrounding situation seemed disturbing the education system and every sphere of life, I took it as in childish mood because imagining such a huge political disturbance was not an easy job at the age of five or six. Then gradually I became conscious about the happening around me, I came to know through my family member that we had an uncle who became victim of enforced disappearance in early nineties. That was a chocking incident in our family; every family member searched him from pillar to post but all in vain, every morning, each one of us would do the rounds of the security force camps to look for him. Authorities first submitted that he is in their custody then refused it. I witnessed the brutality of security forces, ruthlessly beat whole of our family at our home when we protested their demands to arrest our second uncle. This was the time when every Kashmiri was seen as a suspect because of AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act). In “disturbed areas” the army and paramilitary forces are granted sweeping powers of arrest, search without warrants under section 4 of the armed forces (Jammu & Kashmir) powers act, 1990. The special powers extended by the law are the objects of great misuse. Dozens of people were killed in cold blood but labelled as terrorists.
For India, the future of Kashmir is non-negotiable - it is an 'integral part' of the country, the only Muslim majority state in the union and thus a cornerstone of its democracy and secular credentials. India always called the rebellion a Pakistan sponsored terrorist movement, while Pakistan projected it as a movement- a struggle. For Pakistan, Kashmir is also important because the majority of its population is Muslim - it is Pakistan's 'jugular vein', and an unfinished task of the Partition. With these claims on Kashmir, both countries have choked the voice of Kashmiris. The Indian government has reacted with an iron fist, deployed large numbers of security men and turned Kashmir into one massive jail.
I remember the night when security forces cordoned off our village and made announcement of crackdown on loudspeakers, the chilling winter breeze almost stopped the breath of people, for two consecutive days, our village school ground was made a massive jail without roof.
Kashmir was turned into battlefield, its warriors brought in the agendas to transcend the demand for self-determination. In the process, the genuine political struggle for the unification of Kashmir and the demand of the people that they should be allowed to decide their own future was forgotten. Kashmir was given a flashpoint between two countries and not because Kashmiris were suffering.
The State elections in 1996, apparently aimed at ensuring a representative government in Kashmir was nothing but a farce activity. The man who was elected was Farooq Abdullah, the son of Kashmir's legendary Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah.
I belong to Kashmir's cursed generation - the youth of the 90s. I have lived all those troubled years in Kashmir. I have lost normal human feelings. I am immune to the death; I have developed an inability to mourn.
And it seems that the outside world too is unable to feel the pain of Kashmir. Kashmir is like a trading market now, where everyone tries his luck. Kashmir is divided into three parts: one held by Pakistan, another by China and rest is under India. After more than 100,000 deaths, there still appears to be no headway towards peace. Nobody knows the actual identity of a Kashmiri. The international community needs to resolve issues between India and Pakistan.

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